A win at Texas last season helped cool the heat that was on Dennis Franchione at Texas A&M, but his Aggies will probably have to contend for the Big 12 South this year or the seat could get hot once again.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione likely saved his job last season by beating rival Texas to end the regular season, denying the Longhorns a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Guy Morriss is still waiting to lead Baylor to a bowl game, but he already has done something his three predecessors could not — survive the fateful fourth season.

Not to worry, guys. The proverbial hot seat seldom is as warm in the spring as it is when the leaves begin to fall.

That wasn't the case a year ago, when Franchione entered the season amid talk he could be one of the league's first coaches fired.

The Aggies eventually finished third in the ultracompetitive South Division, losing three conference games by a combined six points. At one point, A&M was 8-1, but the Aggies lost three of their last four, including a 45-10 blowout to California in the Holiday Bowl. The saving grace: A 12-7 victory over Texas at Austin, which snapped a six-year losing streak to the Longhorns.

"Beating Texas was like a get-out-of-jail-free card," said Ivan Maisel, the national college football columnist for ESPN.com.

In four seasons at College Station, Franchione has gone a combined 25-22. A&M has finished no better than third place in the South Division and failed to qualify for a bowl in two of those seasons.

With defending league champion Oklahoma having holes to fill at quarterback and running back and Texas facing key questions on the offensive line and secondary, the Aggies could enter the season with their best chance to win their first conference title since 1998.

"(Franchione) is in a lot better shape now than he was at this time last year," said Dennis Dodd, a national college football columnist for CBS SportsLine.com.

A&M returns the nucleus of its team, primarily on offense with quarterback Stephen McGee, running backs Jorvorskie Lane and Mike Goodson, and tight end Martellus Bennett. The Aggies have a tough non-conference schedule with Miami and Fresno State and must play at Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas Tech and Missouri in Big 12 play.

"We certainly want to compete (for a conference championship) this year," said Franchione, who will earn $2 million annually on a contract that runs through 2010. "The thing we all have to keep in mind is there are two other top-10 teams in our division at the very least. It's not an easy division."

Fifth season for Morriss

At Baylor, Morriss enters his fifth season as the longest-tenured football coach at the school since Grant Teaff retired after the 1992 season.

Dave Roberts didn't last longer than two seasons. Kevin Steele was gone after his third year. By recent Baylor standards, Chuck Reedy's four-year stint can be termed a success since his 1994 team is the last to play in a bowl.

Morriss isn't ready to proclaim this as the season the Bears snap their 12-year postseason drought. He does think Baylor is close after reaching the final month of the season with a chance at the six wins necessary to become bowl eligible the past two seasons.

"For us to get a complete turnaround is going to take some time," Morriss said. "We always talk about it didn't get in a ditch overnight, and it's not going to come out of the ditch overnight."

Bears get new facility

Since Morriss' hiring before the 2003 season, Baylor has changed leadership in the athletic department. The message being preached is patience. That hasn't been easy, considering the past four coaches have combined for 98 losses, seven fewer than Teaff totaled in 21 seasons.

"Baylor went through times where it under-invested in football," athletic director Ian McCaw said. "Part of that led to some of the down years."

Times are changing.

The school broke ground earlier this month on a $34 million on-campus football practice facility and academic center that should provide a boost in recruiting against the state's other Big 12 schools — Texas, A&M and Texas Tech.

On the field, the Bears have improved their win total in conference play each of the last three years. Last season, Baylor won back-to-back Big 12 games for the first time and swept all three games from North Division opponents.

The closest the Bears have come to reaching the six victories needed to be bowl eligible came in 2005, when they finished 5-6 and lost to A&M in overtime and Oklahoma in double overtime. Last season, Baylor was 4-4 when quarterback Shawn Bell suffered torn knee ligaments against the Aggies, and the Bears ended the season with four consecutive losses by an average of 28 points.

Respect hard to come by

Just how far has the program come? During last year's Big 12 media tour, Morriss, who never hesitates to speak his mind, said he was unhappy Baylor was picked to finish last in the South.

"To be honest, I thought we would be a little further along than we are," Morriss said. "That's something you can't predict each year. The program was in pretty rough shape. I don't know that even us as coaches realized how bad shape it was in. I do believe we've made good strides, and our program is in good shape."

Morriss noticed more leadership from his upperclassmen and a change in attitude during spring workouts, saying "for some reason this spring feels better ... it feels right."

He just hopes he is around to finish the rebuilding project. With his contract set to expire at the end of the 2008 season, Morriss said he would be willing to discuss an extension with school officials at the appropriate time.

"I'll be happy to sit down and talk with them at any time," he said. "But I'm not going to worry about that stuff. I can't control it.

"Somewhere at the proper time if they feel it needs to be extended they'll do it, and if they don't we'll deal with it and go down the road."